Over the Fence
by Where-or-When
Summary: John Bender was my next-door neighbor. I wasn't sure what I was to him, and I wasn't sure what he was to me; we were more than just neighbors and more than just friends, but I could never come up with the right word. This is the day we spent in detention. If you like this, check out Behind the Fence as well!
1. Love thy Neighbor

I was only seven years old when my mother first struck me, with nobody to help and nobody on my side. That is, until I saw what lived over the fence.

My mother uncontrollably angry and for the first time let me have it right on the nose. Horrified, I locked my bedroom door, crawled out of my window and sat alone in my backyard where I didn't think she'd look to find me. All of a sudden when I was about to have my break-down, some boy poked his head over the wooden fence, standing on the step ladder that his father left outside. He climbed over and sat beside me quietly. I felt stupid sitting next to a boy while pinching my nose and having tears still rolling down my cheeks, but not enough to send him away.

"What happened to _you?"_

"I...ran into my door." I lied.

"Really? So what, did it just jump out and nail you?"

"Uh, yeah," I scooted away from him, embarrassed.

"So why are you crying then?"

"Well being punched by your mom-DOOR doesn't really feel nice."

He cocked his head to the side and scrunched his eyebrows. "Your _mom-door?"_ he asked suspiciously. "You mean your mom?"

I felt the color flush out of my face and my heart starting to beat like a jackhammer. "Maybe,"

"My parents hit me, too. My dad mostly, but my mom's hit me before." he explained as-a-matter-of-factly. "It's OK," he awkwardly put a hand on my shoulder for minimal comfort.

"No it's not!" I resented, shrugging out of his touch. "I don't even know what I did wrong!" I listened to my voice and realized that I was still pinching my nose. "Have you ever gotten a bloody nose?"

The boy nodded. "Sure,"

"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked desperately.

"Wait here," he got up quickly and ran through the side gate and over to his house. Within a minute or two, he came back over and stood on his knees in front of me. He took a few tissues out of the box that he brought over and, while still slightly panting, shaped the tissues into funny things that looked like torpedoes. Once he successfully made two, he told me to tilt my head up. I did so, then he walked over on his knees to my side and stuck the tissues up my nostrils. "There you go."

I carefully screwed them tighter into my nose. "I feel silly."

"You _look_ silly." he told me. I put my hands on my hips and glared. The boy shrugged and told me truthfully, "You look like you have a white mustache that starts from inside your nose."

I got up, crossed my arms and walked away from him.

My neighbor followed me until we were both standing in front of my window. "If you ever you need help or anything, I'm right over the fence. My room has the window like... Like that." he pointed at my window. "Your house looks kind of like mine... But it's backwards."

"So your house is like my opposite house?"

"No, _your_ house is like _my_ opposite house."

Not wanting to argue with him and lose a potential friend, I raised my hands innocently and agreed with him.

"But if you ever do come over, go through the side gate, not the front door. My parents would get real mad."

"You can come over if you want to, too. But you'd have to go through the gate." I said back.

"Alright, thanks. See you later, then."

"Wait!" I called.

He turned back to me. "What?"

"What's your name?"

"John,"

"I'm Jennifer," I said, even though he probably couldn't care less.

John waved again and let himself out of my yard.

**Saturday, April 7, 1984. 5925 Gerard Street. Shermer, Illinois. 60062.**

It wasn't because I felt sick, and it wasn't because I had been up for an hour and a half already, but I had a strange feeling inside me like something was going to happen. It had been like that since I woke up. I didn't know what came over me, but something felt a bit off. But before I would let anything happen, I had to get through step one: breakfast.

Reluctantly, I brought myself out of my warm bed and slowly let my feet touch the cold, hardwood floor. I walked out casually, but at the sight of John Bender asleep on my couch again, I rushed into the bathroom to splash cold water onto my face and yank the tangles out of my hair. I always went through the trouble to make myself at least a little presentable to him, even though he never bothered to for me. It was just that way with us. I wasn't sure what I was to him, and I wasn't sure what he was to me. We were more than just neighbors and more than just friends, but I could never come up with the right word.

John tried to look like a burnout to the kids at school, but when he was alone with me, it was different. I depended on him to stay like that for whenever I needed him. But, time was running out and I had no idea what either of us was planning on doing after we graduated from high school. I wasn't going to college and I assumed he wasn't either. I guess we never really talked about things like that.

I cleared my mind of these thoughts, snuck out into the kitchen, and started to make my breakfast. Apparently I wasn't as silent as I tried to be, because John soon stumbled into the kitchen just after the coffee was ready. He sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter and buried his face into his hands.

"I'm sorry," I got out two mugs, "I woke you up, didn't I?"

John shook his head and with a muffle from his hands, said, "No, don't worry about it."

"Here, it'll wake you up," I put the hot mug of coffee in front of him.

"Thanks," he took a big gulp. "Whoa!"

"Oh yeah," I laughed and put the bacon I made on a plate. "It's hot,"

"I figured," John got up and walked up behind me. For a moment, I was strangely excited, but it didn't last when I saw his arm reached beside me to grab a piece of bacon.

"Sorry I woke you up, John." I said while trying to casually spread butter on my toast.

"Don't worry about it," he snagged a few more pieces of bacon and sat on top of the counter across from me. "Hey, what time is it anyway?" he reached back for his coffee.

I looked past him at the clock on the wall. "Almost 6:00,"

"Damn, I gotta be at school at seven."

"You have detention?"

"You surprised?"

"Not really. Actually, I'm relieved. I thought I was going to be alone." I sipped my coffee then stood in front of him, delicately nibbling at my toast.

John's eyes widened and a small smirk crawled across his face. "_You_ have detention? Jennifer Henson, I can't believe it."

"Proud?"

"Alright, Jen!" he hopped down and took a rather large bite out of my toast. "What'd you do?"

I stared at him for a moment. "Don't talk with your mouth full. It's gross."

John swallowed and tried again. "What did you do?"

I nervously walked away to put the empty bacon plate in the sink. "It wasn't all that much."

"What. Did. You. Do."

"I slapped a girl in History."

"Really?" he was even more eager. "Who?"

I slowly turned around. "Claire Standish,"

"Claire?" he echoed softly. I remembered him walking around the school with his arm around her a couple of weeks ago and then both of them suddenly keeping at least ten thousand miles away from each other.

"It was my fault, though. See, we were partners for this thing and she kept annoying me. But in my defense, she completely blew it out of proportion. I didn't deserve detention." I explained.

John randomly put his hands behind his back. "Slap me as hard as you slapped her."

"What? Why?"

"So I can tell you if it's worth a detention or not."

"Well, OK." I wasn't going to look like a wimp in front of him, so I went ahead and slapped him across the face like I did to Claire.

John paused for a moment to evaluate and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's worth a detention."

"Oh, come on! Both of my parents have slapped me way harder than that!"

"I know that," he agreed. "But richies like her haven't had as much as one finger laid on them." I could tell that he was lying for my benefit. He tended to do that.

"Alright, but it's still totally lame that I have to go to detention on a Saturday for it."

"You regret slapping her?"

I scoffed. "By all means."

John smiled at me and looked back at the clock. "Hurry up and get dressed or Vernon'll have you in detention again next week."

"Aren't you gonna change?" I looked at his worn out and faded jeans, stained green flannel long-sleeve, and wrinkled black shirt underneath that he presumably wore the day before.

"Me? What for? It's detention, Jen, not a wedding."

"Even if you were going to a wedding, you wouldn't change." I giggled.

John leaned back on the counter and looked down at himself. He smiled and looked back up at me. "I'd consider changing my socks."

I began to walk backwards to my room. "You would not," I challenged.

John crept up to me and held out his hands. I knew what was coming, spun around, and started to run away. He was right behind me, his hands still out and getting closer to my sides. I shrieked as his arms wrapped around me and he leaned forward over me. "You're such a smart-ass, you know that?"

"Old news, Bender!"

"Well it's still true," he straightened and pushed me in the direction of my room. "Now get dressed, before you get me late!"

"I will because I want to, not because you told me to!" I answered stubbornly.

"Want the rest of your coffee to-go?" he called back, changing the subject.

"Please!" I said as I closed my door and opened my dresser, figuring that that's what I felt was going to happen all morning. John and I were never seen in public together. That was about to change.

Knowing that I had nothing else to expect other than a day with good 'ol Bender, I put on my faded jeans, purple sweater, and red Chuck Taylor high tops that looked about ready to fall apart. I ran out to the front door and found Bender leaning on the wall falling back asleep with my coffee by his feet. I giggled and flicked his nose. "We'll have plenty of time to sleep when we get to school."

"Don't hold your breath," he reached down and took a gulp of my drink while I hung my beige scarf around my neck and slipped on my denim jacket. Bender looked at me for a moment and smirked. "You still wear my old jacket?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. I haven't got anything else since my old man sold mine, and I haven't any spare money for myself anymore. I just thank God that I've finished growing." I grabbed my coffee from him and opened the door for us.

Bender put on his sunglasses and tweed coat and walked out in front of me. "At least you don't have to worry about him anymore." he said, casually walking backwards with his hands already deep in his pockets.

I caught up to him and held my cup tightly in my hands in an effort to keep them warm. "Well, A, you have my couch to crash on and B, you know where your dad is at. Mine left, but he can always come right back! Do you have any idea how paranoid I am?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm on your couch so much." he took my scarf which was still loosely hung on my shoulders and wrapped it around my neck. "But you know how to hop the fence and you know that I never lock my window, so if he ever does come back, and he won't, then you can stay with me. It works both ways, Jen." he took my coffee out of my hands and took a swig.

"Thanks, John," I rubbed my hands together and crossed my arms. "Damn, it's cold,"

"We'll be at school in no time," he handed back the cup.

I sipped the lukewarm coffee. "What did you do this time, anyway?"

"Vernon gave me two months of detention a couple of weeks ago."

"How'd you get yourself in that mess?"

"He was just pissing me off, that's all."

"Well what'd you do to get the first detention?"

"I pulled a fire alarm the Friday before." he laughed, reminiscing.

"Really? That was you?" He smiled with pride and nodded. "You saved my life, man!"

"How so?"

"That day Mr. Taylor was bitching at me for not doing my homework again and he was about to give me an essay for the weekend, but after that alarm, he forgot all about it."

He smiled, watching his shoes, then suddenly looked back at me. "So what's that worth to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How much do you owe me now?"

I felt my face drop. "I made you breakfast, John."

"No, you made it then I took it."

"Same thing!"

"Well you owe me more than that." he said stubbornly.

"What did you have in mind?" John's eyebrows rose and he smiled seductively. "Pardon?" He made a hole with one hand and put his index finger through it with the other. I smacked his hands away. "John!"

"I'm just messing with you!" He put an arm around my shoulders, making me actually quite a bit warmer. "This one's on the house."

I brought my blood pressure down a few hundred notches and put my arm around his middle under his coat.

As we walked the rest of the way in dead silence, I looked up at Bender and remembered how well he always treated me. Granted, he was still annoying sometimes and didn't know when the joke was over, but he was gentle and even thoughtful when he wanted to be.

I never forgot that day when we first met. He was the best thing that every happened to me. Throughout the ten years we knew each other, we had grown so attached to one another. Only right then, it looked like it was coming to an end. I looked back up at Bender, memorizing every detail of his face.

John smirked and looked down at me. "What are you looking at me for?"

"I remember when your voice used to be so high."

"And I remember when you used to put your hair in braids every day."

"I can't believe I thought that looked good!"

"Yeah, you looked like Pippi Longstocking." he laughed.

"Was it really that bad?" I held my hair, embarrassed of the thought.

"Aw," he pulled me in closer. "No, you were a lot less creepy than Pippi Longstocking."

"Oh, so I was creepy?"

John thought about it for a moment then nodded. "You still are."

"And you're just as obnoxious as you were when you were eight!"

"Yeah," he squeezed my shoulder. "Some things just don't change."


	2. Jender

John and I arrived right at seven o'clock and let ourselves into the library. I was half expecting him to run out way in front of me and ignore me for the rest of the day a few blocks beforehand, but he kept his arm around me the whole time until he opened the door and let me into the library before him. Surprised and actually quite flattered, I tried to live up to the name John Bender. Easier said than done, yes, but I at least tried. But it was okay when I saw John walk ahead of me and take a seat at the table in the second row.

He pulled out the chair next to him and pointed to it. "Come here,"

I did as instructed and sat down. I put my feet up on the table and watched Bender put his feet on the chair to the left of him out of the corner of my eye.

Everything so far was comfortable, but the last thing that I expected was for John to know Andrew Clark and the freaky girl sitting at the table to the next to us. The girl was dressed like a prep, but the way she was sitting there and the expression she had on her face really threw me off.

"Hey," John said with a small flick of his hand.

"Hey," they both said back. Andrew leaned forward to see me and said as if from some annoying obligation, "Hey Jennie,"

I leaned forward past Bender, handing over the last of the coffee. "Hi Andy,"

John looked surprised, but made sure to finish the coffee first. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," I said smoothly as I took the cup away from him before he could hurt himself with it.

"Pretty well," Andrew added. I smiled at him and caught a glimpse of the girl right next to him hardening her eyes until John cut me off from her and raised his eyebrows seductively as he did before on our walk. I lightly hit his cheek and turned my attention to the door where our principal, Richard Vernon was walking through.

I counted the squeaks in his steps as he came to us. He stopped and took a head count of all of us. "One two three four..." he whispered privately."Well... Looks like our fifth party guest is late. Guess he just bought himself another detention for the next-"

"Never fear," a gut-twistingly familiar voice sang as he yanked open the front door, "Danny is..." The entire world stopped as our eyes met. It just had to be Daniel Baker.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm here." If your intelligence is even slightly above that of a doorknob's, you'll understand that I really do not care for that kid. That boy alone has caused me more tears and stress than sophomore and junior year _combined._

"You're late, Mr. Baker." Vernon said bitterly as Daniel hid his face from me and sat in the chair in the top left corner of the room.

"My car wouldn't start." he mumbled back while still trying to make himself invisible.

I still felt as though I had forgotten how to breathe. I couldn't help but stare at the back of Daniel's head, the memories flooding my mind of the two of us just months ago. I felt a warm hand on the skin of my knee where my jeans were ripped. I looked at the hand and followed it up to the body it belonged to. It was John. Saw that one coming, huh? He knew every single thing that was going through my mind.

"Now that we're all here," Vernon went on, "we can enjoy our day. And thanks to a mister John Bender," he swiped the chair from under John's feet, "I'll be right outside those _closed_ doors in my office. But don't think that gives any of you the right to go off and start any parties in here. You will all stay in these seats and be dead silent. If I hear as much as one peep, I'm cracking skulls. Am I clear?" he pointed at John again. He returned it with an innocent shrug and a secret middle finger under the table.

A few moments after Vernon had left, everybody let out a collective sigh and started to shed off coats and scarves and make idle conversation. That is, everybody except for Daniel.

"So Andrew, what'd you do now?" Bender asked as he shrugged out of his coat.

Andrew undid the snap buttons of his varsity jacket and put an arm around the girl who was apparently his girlfriend. "Some shit head was saying things about me being with Allison so I beat the crap out of him and got caught."

John leaned forward. "And you?" he asked the girl.

"What was I supposed to do with Andy being in detention?" she answered in an unsettling monotone.

All four of us ended up looking at Daniel, expecting Bender to say something.

"What about you?"

Daniel waited a moment as if he didn't know that he was being spoken to then turned around slowly. He set his eyes strictly on John and said in the smooth voice that I learned to hate, "I was caught smoking pot under the bleachers."

"You got _caught?"_ John spat. "What was it your first time on school grounds?"

Daniel's eyes hardened. "Well at least I wasn't trying to look cool in front of everybody and talk myself into two months of detention. All I did was get caught smoking weed. So what? Most guys who do it get caught anyway."

"So that means that you aren't the god you think you are."

"I never said that."

"Actions speak louder than words." Bender shrugged and put an arm around my shoulders.

I slid down in my seat and squeezed my eyes shut. I knew exactly what Bender was trying to do to Daniel and I was sure that it wouldn't fail. After expecting to hear a big dogfight break out between them, I peeked out of one eye and saw Daniel turned back around with his head propped up by his elbow and John looking down at me. I sucked in a deep breath and sat back up.

"What'd you do to get here, Jennie?" Andrew asked me, breaking the tense silence.

I stared straight ahead at the door for a split second and wondered how fast I could run as I pictured what his reaction would be. "I uh, slapped a girl in History."

Andrew seemed amused like Bender was before. "Really? Who?"

I took a deep breath. "Claire Standish."

Both Andy and his girl stared at me.

"Claire?" the girl echoed.

"Yeah," I looked back down at my lap.

"What happened between you and Claire anyways?" Andrew asked John, taking the pressure off me.

"Well," Bender got up and sat on top of the table behind us, "we were together for like a week and a half then she came up to me in front of my locker and said that it wasn't working for her."

"What did you do then?"

"I took off that earring she gave to me, dropped it on the floor, then walked away from her like it never happened," he answered comfortably. But as I looked at him closer, I saw in him what he saw in me when Daniel came in. John was like many other guys and tried to never let anybody else know what he really was feeling. However, I knew him well enough to know exactly what he was thinking. He wanted it to work out with Claire. He wanted something to last for a change. Unlike what my heart told me to do, I didn't acknowledge this in any way and turned back around and stared at the table. I felt the anxiety from everybody in the room, so I took a gamble and whistled a short line from "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and watched everybody in the corner of my eye snicker generously at my lame cliché.

John smiled and jumped off of the table and put me in a loose headlock.

"How do you guys know each other?" Andrew asked as he let go of the girl and sat on top of his table.

John loosened his arms around my neck and rested his head on top of mine. With a cheerful tone, he explained, "Well, it all started when our parents bought their houses."

I played along. "They were right next to each other!"

"And after a few rounds in bed, they each created a _darling_ child. My folks had a boy, and her's had a girl."

"They treated said darling children like absolute shit every day."

"The two darling children had no place else to go but over the fence to the other darling child."

"Neither of the darling children had any other family or any friends that they felt comfortable talking to about their family. And so, Jen and Bender became the way they are today."

John gasped, "Jender!" and looked at me with a strange, surprised face.

I sighed and leaned my head back on his shoulder. "Jender," I confirmed.

The couple exchanged glances. Even Daniel glimpsed at us.

"So you guys have like the same life?" Allison asked with slightly more emotion.

John shrugged and his arms slid off on my shoulders and sat behind me on the table.

"Essentially," I answered.

"You never said that you had anyone else there for you a few weeks ago," Andrew said a bit bitterly. "You don't handle that shit on your own like you said you do?"

"I never said that I handle it all on my own. We just don't talk about each other." Bender said smoothly. I nodded in agreement.

"So," Andrew went on, seemingly asking every question that popped in his head. "What are you to each other, then? Friends, neighbors? I mean, you're never seen together or anything."

Eager, I turned back and rested my arm on the back of my chair. John and I looked at each other for a minute. John looked back at Andrew. "Neighbors, I guess."

Damn.

"But you guys seem really close?" You could see it Andy's face that he was confused, as most people would be if John and I ever tried to explain our relationship. Hell, even I was.

I took a crack at it. "All we do is put up with as much of our parents as we can on our own. But when things get too nasty, we have another place to run away to." I explained.

"Yeah," I heard John say behind me. "Whenever Jen didn't want to stay at her place, then she hopped the fence and crashed in my bed and I slept on the floor."

"And whenever things get too rough for John, he used to sleep on my floor, but then he upgraded and now he sleeps on my couch. He does now almost every night, actually."

"And when Jen used to get her so vogue black eyes, I'd come over with frozen veggies."

"And when John gets his so chic bloody noses, I come over with a damp towel and tissues."

"So we're kinda like each other's first-aid kit," Bender said creatively.

"Wait," Andrew came up with yet another question. "What's up with all this past-tense Jen stuff?" he looked at me curiously. "Did your parents cool off on you?"

I looked up at John for help. He smoothed down my hair and sat up on the table beside me. "See a few months ago, my father left me and my mother. My mom got another job and I got a job at the library." Already, I heard my voice starting to shake and me taking unusually deep breaths between sentences. "My mom and I both work at different times so it's like we never see each other anymore. I know it should be a good thing to have no parents who beat me up anymore, but now it's like I don't have anybody at all. I mean, it's not like I miss it or anything, but I find myself wondering, 'Now _when_ and _how_ am I _ever_ going to catch a break?'. Either I'm in a house where everyone hates me or I'm all alone. I don't know what to do anymore." I forced myself to breathe normally and took a moment to congratulate myself for not breaking down in front of everyone.

I looked back up at Bender. He reached down for one of my hands and held it tight. "Don't ever say you're alone."

I bit my bottom lip, nodding for him. But the thing was, I really did think I was alone. If not at home, then inside and in the future. I remembered him asleep on the couch earlier that morning. How long could he stay there?

Allison stared at the floor and Andy looked up at the ceiling and raked his fingers through his hair uncomfortably.

"He left you guys a few months ago?" Daniel asked, grasping my attention.

I looked past Bender and at Dan for a moment and tried to put my thoughts back together. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, but no words came out.

"In the middle of January." John answered for me louder than he needed to.

Daniel gently sighed, his face and body wilting, "Oh,"

Andrew robotically turned to Daniel and glared at him then I felt Bender's hand clench mine way too tight. I yelped as quietly as I could and took my hand back. John's eyes widened and he held his hands up in innocence. "Sorry!" he whispered.

"Um," Andrew turned back to Bender and me. "Allison and I are gonna go to the back for a while." He took Allison's hand and walked away. "Let us know when it's almost 11:30, will ya?"

"Yeah," John said as I crawled on top of a table and folded my jacket up into a pillow.

I started to close my eyes and curl up into a ball on my side when I felt something warm cover me. It was John's tweed coat. I opened one eye and watched him walk over to the front desk and take a hand full of pencils, then sit on the table in front of me and take out his blade. While he began to randomly sharpen the pencils, I closed my eyes for a little nap.


	3. Pencil Darts

Maybe thirty or forty minutes later, I squinted my eyes open and saw John trying to play darts with his sharpened pencils on a bulletin board. Dan was still there, sitting on top of his desk, watching him. I decided to stay relaxed and leave the two to whatever they were doing for a little bit longer. I closed my eyes and listened to the small sounds Bender was making with his pencil darts.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer." John snapped all of a sudden.

"How do you guys know each other so well?" Dan asked irrelevantly. I assumed he was looking at me, so instead of accidentally smiling or opening my eyes, I rolled over onto my other side and faced away from them. As I changed positions, John's coat slipped off of me and crumbled to the floor.

"She's my neighbor. Weren't you paying attention?"

I heard light footsteps coming closer to me. He put the coat back over me and then brushed a clump of hair behind my ear. It was definitely Dan.

"Do you think she'd ever take me back?" He whispered.

I listened to more footsteps and small jingles of chains in sync with them. "No chance. But it wouldn't matter if she would anyways," said John in his normal volume of speaking, "I wouldn't let her."

"You wouldn't _let her?_ Who the hell are you to-"

"You don't have to whisper." Bender interrupted. "Can you hear the way that she's breathing?" A pause. "It's heavy. When she's like that, an earthquake couldn't wake her up." Apparently I'm good at acting like I'm asleep. Ten points to Jennifer. "And _yeah_, I wouldn't let her. You're too much of a bastard and frankly, you don't deserve her."

"Oh, and _you_ do?" Dan started to talk in his normal volume but subconsciously still whispering a bit.

"I'm not saying I'm good enough for her. Hell, nobody's ever gonna be good enough for her. But I've known Jen forever and I know what's good for her and that she won't settle for someone that would hurt her like you did." I heard more jingles slowly fading away back to where they came from, getting back to his pencil darts.

"So that gives you the right to tell her what to do?"

Bender threw another pencil. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well you said that if I ever wanted her back, you wouldn't let her take me."

"And?"

"_And_, you tell her what to do."

"That's a very hurtful accusation." John said casually as another pencil unsuccessfully hit the floor.

"So then you don't?"

"I don't what?"

"You're really starting to piss me off."

"That is not an issue for me."

"JESUS!"

"Leave him out of this!"

Dan let out a long, frustrated breath. "Bender, if you don't tell her what to do, then how could you not let her be with me?"

"It's real simple," John started. I rolled over and watched them. John was leaning back on the front desk and Daniel was leaning on the wall opposite of him with his arms crossed. "I don't tell her what to do. I just tell everybody _around_ her what to do. And if they're smart, they listen. And if they're not," John reached into his pocket and took out his pocket knife. In mosh pry moment, the blade shot out, giving me a little gleam in the eye. "Then we compromise."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"I can fix that." John walked backwards to the desk right in front of me.

Dan ignored John and walked back to where I was. Quickly, I shut my eyes again and pretended to be asleep. "I'm in love Jennie. I've always been. I _need_ her, man . How would you feel if you lost her and you couldn't get her back?"

"A hell of a lot shittier than you. Jen's all I got. It's enough that I have to stand by while her life gets worse and worse at home, but then I have to watch fuckers like you tell her that they love her, but really are just in it to get her in bed. I admit that I'm one of those fuckers to other girls, but Jen's different to me."

"So that's why you're always with her and guard her with your life." Dan concluded.

"I'm protecting her from guys like you and me who would just use her to fuck her a couple times then kick her aside. I know who those guys are and I go so far out of my way to keep her from them. She doesn't even know about it, nobody does! Those guys just listen to me and leave. So unless you'd like to wake up one morning with a knife going through your eye, I suggest that you stay the hell away from her."

They stopped for a few moments. I thought about 'waking up', but then their conversation carried on.

"Why were you so comfortable with Claire if you aren't with Jennie?" Dan asked.

"I guess her reputation wasn't that important to me. Then when my friends saw me with her, she was the one to ball up a fist and tell them to fuck off. It wouldn't be the same with Jen. She's too timid."

"Yeah, I know. I mean, why else would you think I made all the sports keep an eye on her when I wasn't around? That's how she got to know Andrew."

"Oh,"

They paused again.

"So, Mr. Henson really left, huh?"

Bender shot lasers out of his eyes. "You, then the old man, then the old lady."

"Her mom, too?"

"She lives there, sure, but she took on another job so she's hardly at home anymore."

"Does she still hurt Jennie?"

"Of course not, her dad is gone now." Bender glanced at Dan and smirked. "I guess you never figured it out. It's okay, Jen never did either."

"Figure what out?"

"Her mom was just as scared of her dad as she was. She beat Jen so her husband wouldn't beat her. Why else would her mom all-out avoid her when he left? If she wanted to lash out on her like she used to all the time, she would."

"How can you be sure?"

"The fence isn't sound-proof. Trust me, I know a lot more about everything Jennifer Henson than you ever will."

"One more question?"

"What?" John was obviously irritated by still talking to him.

"You and Jen are really close, right?"

"You should know by now that we are."

"This may sound totally off-the-wall, but I feel like we should be alone when I ask this."

"No Dan, I won't move in with you."

Dan actually laughed a little. "No, I mean, have you two ever...?" It took me a minute to see what he was getting at...

"Yeah," AND YOU TELL THE TRUTH? He barely ever tells the truth. But he picked then to be honest?

"More than once?"

"Just once,"

"When?"

"Last summer. I woke her up from the nightmare she had every now and again, and she was too scared to go back to sleep, so I stayed with her. I didn't really mean for it to happen, but it did."

"Wait, you did it with her _last summer?"_

"Yeah, why?"

"Shit, man," Dan laughed. "I thought she was still a virgin! I did it with her in December!"

John actually laughed and punched Dan. "Beat you to it."

"And you guys only did it once?"

"To the best of my knowledge,"

"After living next to each other for seventeen years?"

"Strange, isn't it?"

"Knowing about you, and knowing how amazing Jennie is... Yeah, it is."

"But you got your prize money anyway, didn't you?" John's tone dropped.

"Nope," My eyes bugged open and my mouth gaped, thank goodness their backs were turned.

"What?" Bender choked. "Then what did you do about your friends?"

"I told 'em that she dumped me before I could get in bed with her. So I gave the co-captain the hundred bucks and was done with it. I don't know how I spilled it to her in the first place, but I didn't want to make everything worse, so, I dropped it."

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't tell. 'Cause if you did, I would have had to carve you like a fucking pumpkin."

"Mmmh..." I started to stretch and pretend to wake up before things could get much further. "What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"Jen, what are you doing awake?" John asked me like I was three years old.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched my legs out. "I don't know, what are _you_ doing awake?"

"You smart-ass."

"You dumb-ass."

"Oh," John grinned. "So that's how it's gonna be?" he held out his hands.

"Oh no," I giggled as I inched away from him and held my arms out. "Don't tickle me!"

"I didn't start this, Jen!" he leaned over and laughed deviously.

But before he could lay a finger on me, I rolled off the table onto the chairs under me. "OOF!"

Both John and Dan laughed at me and I covered my face with my hands and giggled at myself. Then John laid across the table and held his face right over mine. "Damn gravity." he laughed.

I crossed my eyes and flicked his nose.

John sat there for a second with a surprised and amused look on his face. "You did not just do that." He took his hands back out.

I tried to get away, but all that I could do was flail my arms and kick my legs as John tickled my sides.

"Stopitstopitstopit!" I screamed.

"TAKE IT BACK?" he shouted.

"YES!" I laughed, not realizing how loud I was being. Vernon must have not been in his office where he could hear us.

"SO WHAT AM I?"

"A REGULAR ASS!"

John abruptly stopped. "Fine," he stood back up on the other side of the table and flipped his hair back. "That's good enough."

I sat up again, only to see Andrew and his girl staring at John and me like we had three heads.

Andy let out a breath. "Well, I'm glad that we didn't walk in on anything awkward or anything."

John put his hands in his pockets. "You two tired already? I thought you were good at rolling around and pinning people down, Andrew."

"Shit head," Andrew mumbled as he pulled out a chair for his girlfriend. I wished that John had that kind of class to him.

Moving the subject back to what it was when they first walked in, the girl looked over at me and asked, "So...what were you guys just doing?"

"She flicked my nose." John answered simply.

"It's a hard thing to miss!"

Bender was back in his image to these guys and instead of coming at me again, he just pointed his finger at me and raised his eyebrows warningly. I could tell that I was going to have to stop playing around. I shrugged my shoulders and put my feet up on the table again.

Just a few minutes later, all five of us were back in the same area sitting on the tables, the railing, or doing a strange dance around the middle of the room. I happened to be the one person doing the strange dance.

"Jen?" Bender was sitting alone on the railing with Andrew doing stretches below him. "What are you dancing around about? I understand that seeing Andrew's yoga is pretty intense, but try to control yourself."

Andrew dropped his leg and glared up at John. "I'm not doing yoga, asshole." John grabbed the tip of his nose and pretended to stretch it out in front of him like Pinocchio.

Turning his attention back to me, John repeated, "So what's with your dance?"

I stopped and stood facing him, crossing my legs uncomfortably. "I...gotta...pee..."

"So go then! Who's stopping you?"

"What about Vernon?"

"What _about_ Vernon?"

"With my luck, I'll get caught."

John hopped down. "I'll go with you then. I never get caught."

"Ew, no." I stepped farther away from him. Then, a light bulb popped into my head as my eyes caught other girl in the room. I clapped my hands and pointed to her. "You!"

She looked at me like I totally flipped my wig. "What?"

I ran to her eagerly and grabbed her wrist and began to run. "You get to be my bathroom buddy!"

We came to an abrupt stop when we faced the door. Quietly, I peeked out and looked both ways and listened for Vernon's squeaky footsteps. The halls were dead silent, so I tiptoed out, headed for the ladies' room. Allison followed shortly behind me, but she seemed a million times less freaked out than me.

The bathroom seemed so much farther away than I remembered, but regardless, we made it. She slowly shut the door behind her as I ran hastily to the first stall.

After the deed was done, I stepped out of my stall and walked up next to the sink where the girl was waiting. She was checking up on her make-up and trying to fiddle with her hair. Somehow, she seemed familiar. I met her before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I took a shot. "Allison?"

She straightened her hair band and looked at me in my mirror. "What?"

I talked to her reflection and rolled up my sleeves to wash my hands. "Where have I met you before?"

"I knew it," she laughed. "You don't remember me."

"I _do_ remember you, but I don't know how."

She took out her powder blue hair band and raked her dark hair in front of her eyes.

My jaw dropped open. I suddenly remembered American History junior year. "Allison Reynolds!"

"Yep," she turned the faucet, stopping the running water I was apparently wasting.

"God," I pushed the button for the hand dryer with the heel of my hand. "What happened? You look so different! In a good way, of course."

"Thanks. Claire helped me out a lot." Allison carefully set the hair band back where it was.

"Claire Standish? Damn, that kid's everywhere now."

"I'm getting the feeling you don't like her?"

"Not particularly."

"Is it because of John?" she leaned back on the sink and looked at me.

I mirrored her. "In a way. I just never got why she would dump him like that. She liked him, didn't she?" Allison nodded. "So why would she ditch him because she was worried about her reputation? We're seniors in high school! Who cares about what her friends think? In five years, she'll have a whole new circle of friends. You and Andy don't mind being in that position and John didn't either! And on top of all that, she threw away such an amazing guy."

"John's amazing to you." she corrected.

"He could have been amazing to her, too. She just didn't wait long enough."

Allison grinned. "You _love_ him, don't you?"

"What?"

"Yeah!"

"Well... I guess so. I mean, he's the only person that I've ever known that cares so much about me. And we practically live together. I grew up having him, not my parents. And no matter what, he was always just behind that fence when I needed him. He even started to sleep on my couch almost every night after my dad left just in case. Maybe he doesn't think much of it because it's his routine now, but just knowing that he's down the hall at night helps me sleep. But I don't really know if you could say that I'm in love with him."

"Don't you know?"

I shrugged. "It never really seemed like a big deal. I don't really think about us and our relationship all the way through too much." I looked back at myself in the mirror. My eyes soon drifted down to my hands holding on tightly to the sink. "I just can't do without him. So yeah, I love him, but maybe not in the way that he would ever be my boyfriend or husband or anything. I'm not saying I wouldn't be if he asked, but I guess that wouldn't matter because after we graduate we'll go our separate ways and he'll be gone and nothing will ever be the same again."

I looked back in the mirror and saw Allison standing a little bit closer to me. I turned to her and managed to stiffen my quivering lip. Allison put a hand on my shoulder. "You're so lucky to have someone like him. I promise that he'll never leave you alone. I bet he wouldn't even think about being without you for another two or three million years." She smiled warmly for me. It was hard to believe that she was the same Allison in my History class just two years ago. Personally, I liked the one right in front of me better. I couldn't contain myself anymore and let my arms fling around her neck. She was stiff for a second, but then her arms came around my sides and hugged me back.

We let ourselves have our sweet little moment, then we unfortunately had to go back to the library. Just as I did before, I looked both ways and listened for footsteps. It was clear, so I stepped out and was followed by Allison. This time, I was much calmer like her. That is, until I saw a clock. It was 11:36. And knowing our uncommonly punctual principal, Allison and I were in trouble.


	4. We'll Always have Paris

Unsure of ourselves, we slowly walked back to the library. Vernon gave Bender two months of detention for talking back, just imagine what he would do because we left the room!

"Well, well," Vernon turned around and waited for us to come to him. "Nice of you girls to join us."

I put on my brave face and tried my best to change the subject. "Heya, Vern! How's your morning going?"

"Shut up,"

"OK," I nervously laughed and took two big steps back.

Vernon was unimpressed with us. "Mind explaining why you girls weren't in your seats when I came in?"

Millions of excuses ran through my mind in just seconds, but I knew none of them were good enough to get by. Desperately, I looked at Allison, who was already staring generally across the room, blank as she always was. Then, out of nowhere, I thought of it.

I stepped closer to Vernon and lowered my voice. "Listen, Mr. Vernon," I looked back at Allison, who was now looking at me curiously. "Don't worry, he knows what happens to girls, it isn't news." I looked back at Vernon and took one of his shoulders. His eyebrows scrunched together. I took him off to the side where we could be a little bit more secluded, but still close enough for everyone else to listen to us so they could behold my genius.

"What's all this about, Henson?"

"Look, it's Allison's and my time of the month. Really, we would have waited until you came, but neither of us was really..._suited up_ down there, if you catch my drift."

I loved seeing Vernon's face tighten up more than anything else that I'd seen all day. He crossed his arms and tried to wrap his brain around the subject. "Aren't you girls supposed to know what day you're going to begin?"

"Well, Allison hasn't completely regulated yet and I got up really early this morning to be on time and forgot."

"Why couldn't you two have waited a little longer for me to give you permission to go?"

"Because we didn't want to, you know," I whisper-shouted,_ "stain the chairs!"_

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bender bite his lip, Andrew slap his hand over his mouth and Dan shake his head.

"Hey!" I snapped to the boys. I winked at them before I turned back to Vernon. "Mr. Vernon, we both know that it was against one of your larger rules to leave the library, but nature called. If it really is a big deal, Allison and I can come back for detention next week. But after all, there was nothing we could do about it and it's not like we would normally go out and cause shenanigans like some people would." I pointed back over my shoulder at John with my thumb.

Vernon sighed and crossed his arms again. He looked at me, then over at Allison, who had already moved back next to Andrew. "This can't happen again," he wagged his finger at me. "I'm letting you off the hook now, but the next time that this happens, you're finished. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

He pointed at Allison. "And you?" Allison nodded as if she couldn't care less. "Good. Now take your seat, Jennifer."

I did as told and sat back down next to Bender. Under the table, his knee gently bumped mine. Simple, but effective. I looked up at him. He didn't look at me, but he smirked.

"Now that that's all over, you can still have twenty minutes for lunch."

Andrew raised his hand a bit. "What about drinks?"

"Who's going to get everyone sodas?"

"I have a bunch of money," Dan stood up and reached into his pants pocket. "I can get everyone Cokes or something."

"We need another person," Vernon scanned the room. I slid down in my seat, thinking that he wouldn't consider me, but it was just my luck that his eyes brightened at the sight of me._ "You,"_

John stood up abruptly. "OK, let's go, handsome."

"No, not you!" Vernon snapped. He pointed straight at me. "I meant you, Jennifer. Now go! Don't be long."

~!~!~!~

Picture the most perfect looking guy you have ever seen in your whole life. Now name him Daniel Baker. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about being with him. On the one hand, he used me to win a bet, but then on the other hand, I just heard him say to Bender that he's still in love with me. It started as a stupid lie, but it turned into a beautiful life that I admittedly used to wish I wouldn't have had to let go. Dan apparently felt the same way.

When we made it about half way to the teacher's lounge, Dan finally said something to me. "Jennie?"

My brain delayed for a moment. The only other person to call me Jennie was Andrew. It was so weird hearing it again. It wasn't that strange when Andy called me that, but then again, I had more troubling memories associated with Dan. "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me about Bender?"

"I didn't think I had to." I watched my walking feet, avoiding his eyes.

"Why not? I thought we told each other everything."

"Well," I looked up into his familiar eyes, "Bender has always been really protective of me, right? And when I got together with you, we'd get into the stupidest fights about how he had a bad feeling about you and sometimes we completely stopped talking. I was worried because you were the same way at school, so maybe when you heard that I was friends with someone who to the best of your knowledge was an ass, then you'd stop talking to me, too."

Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and watched the floor. "I only ever wanted to make you feel safe, Jennie. I was always so frustrated because I couldn't be there for you every second, so I might have even welcomed the fact that Bender was taking care of you at home. And why would you keep him a secret from me but you went on and told him about us?"

I shrugged. "Bender comes first. Even the alphabet knows that."

"The _alphabet?"_

"Well yeah, it goes B for Bender, C for someone that has yet to be determined, and D for Dan. It's simple stuff."

"What if we were referring to him as John?"

"That's not the case. Besides, I have a better comfort level with him. He's been my friend forever. You, however, I only knew for a few months. Does that make sense?"

"I guess so,"

We walked for a few more moments in silence. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Why not?"

"Did you ever think about me after we broke up?"

I looked my feet again. "It doesn't matter now."

Dan stopped walking and took my shoulder. "Why not? Why can't we get back together?"

"Because it's over." I answered simply, still walking ahead of him.

Dan caught up to me and jumped in my way. "Why does it have to be?"

"Oh God," I walked past him. "I can't do this again, Dan."

"Well, what about me? What if I can't do this anymore? I need you, Jen. Please-"

I spun back to him. "When the hell did we start talking about _you_? What about what you did to me?"

"Jen, I know what I did wrong! After ten minutes of being your boyfriend, I forgot all about the bet! I never lied when I said I love you."

"I just can't deal with this right now!" I turned back around and walked away.

Dan caught up to me and held my shoulder. "What if I told you that I still love you?"

I looked up at him and backed away. "It wouldn't matter anymore."

"It matters to _me_." He stayed where he was and stared me down with big puppy-dog eyes. It was just my luck that I backed into a row of lockers. "You know, I can't even remember the last time since we broke up that I stopped thinking about you. I still stay awake at night, wondering what I would have been doing with my life if I was still with you. And just so you know, I didn't go through with the bet and just said that you dumped me before I could get in bed with you. I would never humiliate you like that. I already hurt you enough. But I want to make things better. Maybe not the same way that it used to be, but at least good enough so that I can pull myself together and get on with my life. Jennie, I love you. I don't love you for a bet. Remember how it was before you knew?"

He slowly walked over to me and was much too soon just a lips distance away. Carefully, he raised his hands and cupped my face into them. Familiar lips touched mine and a warm, safe body embraced me just like the way it used to. I remembered how happy I was and how lucky I thought I was just a few months ago.

It's funny how things have a way of changing, because after sitting around for months wondering about him, my questions were answered. I kind of just stood there like a wall, not feeling the heat I felt before. In fact, I had difficulty remembering what I really liked about him besides that pretty face of his.

I pushed him away. His eyes looked longing and helpless, and I prayed that mine didn't look mean or repulsed. He opened his arms again and softly called to me, "Jennie,"

"No!" I said louder than expected. "Please, just leave me alone. It's over, Dan." As I began to walk back to the library, I expected myself to want to scream, but I was surprisingly OK.

Dan sure wasn't. I walked maybe five feet away until he persisted. "But I love you! Doesn't that mean anything?"

I didn't want to get back into that, so I sped up a little and ignored him.

"Hey!" He caught up and grabbed my arm and spun me to him. His hand coiled around my arm like a tourniquet and he pulled me to him so there was no way of escaping him again. "Listen to me! We're not getting any younger and you've got no place to go after high school. If you follow me to where I'm going to college, you'd be in a better city, you could get a better job and then you'd only wait four years for me. Then I'd have a stable career path and you'd never have to lift a finger or be worried about anything ever again for the rest of your life." I looked away from him and at the floor. He took my chin with his other hand and held it in front of his face. "Jennifer, look at me. If you go off with some loser like Bender, you'll just be going around in circles. You'll be stuck in the same stupid, underpaying job with the same irresponsible boy who'll never let you meet anyone else for as long as you know him. So tell me, what the hell do you think the right choice is?"

I tried to inch away, but he locked me in tighter. "Answer me. Either ruin your life with Bender or give me a second chance."

I sucked in a shaky breath and answered in a weak, squeaky voice, "I'd rather ruin my life with John than ruin my life with you."

Dan let go. I had nothing else to say so I just turned around and walked back to the library. Before I turned the first corner on my way back, I heard a little sniff, then a much louder slam on the lockers. But, he wasn't my problem anymore. I had better things to worry about, like how on earth I was going to stop John from murdering Dan.

~!~!~!~

I found myself running back to library then abruptly stopping as I saw the door in front of my face. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. No matter what, I knew that John was going to get involved in some way whether I liked it or not. After a long count to ten, I put on my bravest face and opened the door.

I apparently interrupted the three people laughing about something and looking much more at-ease than when I had left.

"Jen?" "Back so soon, Jennie?" Allison and Andrew asked suspiciously as I came in. Robotically, Bender shot up from his seat, bent over, and put me over his shoulder to carry me up to the Foreign Languages room.

"Put me down!" "Bender, what are you doing?" "John!" the three of us screamed, but John proceeded and kicked the door open to put me down, then shut the door behind him.

"What did he do?"

Instead of my usual avoiding-the-subject act, I unexpectedly got my break-down I had been waiting for and started to cry. John put his arms around me and pulled me close as I heaved into his shoulder and sobbed, "He kissed me and then I pushed away and I wanted to go, but then he grabbed me and said that I'd be better off with him and that I'm ruining my life then I ran away." I explained in between large gasps for air.

John lifted my chin. "Really?" I nodded and wiped my cheeks. He guided me over to the small sofa and told me, "I want you to stay here, I'll be back."

As he grabbed for the knob, I lifted my hand. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"Well, I'm going to be mature about this, so I'm just going to take Dan aside and quietly kill him."

"Wait!"

John let go of the knob and stood in front of me. "Jen, I'to going to teach him a lesson. Don't you want that?"

I shook my head violently as I threw my arms around his waist and buried my face into his stomach. "You can't leave me yet," I muffled.

"OK, OK," he unwrapped himself and sat down next to me. He wiped off a rolling tear on my cheek with his thumb. "So would you mind telling me why you think you're so upset now? We talked about this, didn't we?"

"Yeah, I know," I leaned my head on his shoulder.

John stroked my hair and embraced me a little bit. "Then why are you so upset? You don't want him back, do you?"

"I just didn't know how to react. I mean, he really hurt me, but he also made me really happy. I don't know, I guess I just miss being happy. And it's not like I like him back, but he was so right. At this point, all that my life's ever going to be is this."

Bender kissed the top of my head. "Don't worry, it'll get better. You're going to fall in real love and be taken care of and you'll never have to be scared again."

"Thanks, John,"

"That's what I'm here for," I kissed his cheek then rested my head back down on his shoulder.

"You ready to go back out there yet?"

I thought for a moment and shook my head. "Not really,"

"Alright," he held onto me and leaned back and stretched out on the couch. He brushed my hair out of my face. "So what else happened? He kissed you?" He was surprisingly and uncomfortably calm.

"Oh yeah,"

"He didn't like suffocate you or anything, did you?"

"No, it was more like a movie kiss. Like I was Ingrid Bergman and he was Humphrey Bogart."

"Well in that case, you'll always have Paris," he said bluntly.

"I guess so. Anyway, after I pushed him away, he got pretty pissed off."

"Of course he did! You don't want him anymore and he's gone through his whole life thinking he's irresistible."

"No," I sat up. "He was upset like how you were after Claire said that you guys wouldn't work out."

"Well that was different," he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

I stood. "How? He was in love with me just like you were with Claire! Maybe even more than that! He fought to keep me and you just walked away!"

John stood up as well. "So you want him back now?"

"No, but it'd be nice to know if I could! But you can't let me use my own mind and let me choose what I want!"

John held my shoulders. "Jennifer, you can't. I promise that I'll stay out of it if something else ever happens, but right now, you just can't. You're not going to go near that kid again, understand?"

"Whatever,"

"Alright," he let go of me and turned to the door.

"Wait, there was one more thing I wanted to say."

"What?"

"See, after he kissed me, I started to walk away and then he grabbed me like this," I gripped his arm and stepped closer to him like Dan did, "and told me that if-"

"He what?" He yanked his arm away from me and looked out the window to the downstairs where Dan was already seated and reaching into his backpack for food.

"He only told me that-"

"No, it was enough that he suffocated you, but he does not do that!" He looked back down at him and ripped open the door. "I'm going to kill that fucker."

"John, he-"

"Stay here, Jennifer!"

Before I knew it, John was already running down the stairs, belting out every bad word he knew at Dan.

Andrew rose as Dan did. "What'd he do?"

John went on, ignoring Andy completely. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Andrew stood in between John and Dan. "Cool off, Bender!"

John shoved Andrew away and threw a punch right at Dan's nose. "JOHN!" I screamed, running down the stairs.

Blood was gushing out of Dan's nose, but that didn't stop Dan from taking a cheap shot and punching John right in the eye as he turned to yell to me, "Jennifer, I said stay upstairs!"

John recoiled and was quickly over the pain and socked Dan in the stomach.

"ENOUGH!" Andrew shoved John to the side and quickly put him in a headlock.

"You're siding with that bastard?" John demanded.

"No, but you can't go around and beat everybody up whenever you damn well please! I don't like him any more than you do!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" A voice from the other side of the library door shouted. Knowing exactly who it was, all of us sprinted back to our seats. Vernon barged in with his face red as a tomato and steam practically coming out of his ears. "What in God's name is going on in here?!"

Nobody said a word.

Vernon stared at us for another moment before he noticed Daniel. He pulled a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and handed it to him for his bleeding nose and asked who did it, but Dan wouldn't say a word.

Jumping to conclusions, Vernon spun around and pointed to Bender who had quite a shiner in his left eye already. "John Bender!"

John pointed his finger back. "Richard Vernon!"

"You're finished, Bender!" He reached down and grabbed John's collar.

John tried to swipe Vernon's hands away, "Don't touch me!" Vernon wouldn't let go and pulled him out and in front of him.

"Mr. Vernon, wait!" Dan called as Vernon and John got to the door.

Vernon turned around and pulled John all the way back to Dan's seat. "So you can talk now?"

"Mr. Vernon, let go of Bender." Vernon was minimally surprised, and still didn't loosen up on Bender.

"Why should I? Did you do all of that to yourself?" Vernon pointed at Dan's distorted face.

"No, but-"

"Then who did?"

"Bender, but-"

Vernon turned back around with Bender's collar still in his fist. "So I was right!"

"No, Mr. Vernon, I need to explain something!" Dan resented. "Let go of him and I can tell you the whole thing. You've got it all wrong!"

"Alright then," Vernon let go of Bender and crossed his arms. "What do you have to say?"

Dan rubbed the back of his head, reorganizing his thoughts, as John sat back down next to me. "You came in when things were just going to straighten out. You see, when Jennifer and I were out getting sodas, I did something, Bender really pissed at me."

"Sexual harassment," Vernon concluded.

Dan paused and looked back at me for a second. He turned back and nodded shamefully. "Yeah, I guess it could be considered sexual harassment."

"Anything else?"

"Well-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Vernon?" I raised my hand politely.

"What?"

"Would it still be considered sexual harassment if you kind of liked it?" All jaws dropped. "What?"

"Did you like it?" Vernon asked uncomfortably.

I held my fingers close together in front of my face. "Like that much,"

"Did you resent him abusing you?"

"He wasn't really abusing me and not that much."

"Were you uncomfortable?"

"Well, yeah. But I did wait a few Mississippi seconds before pushing away. Then I left and when I got back to the library, everybody assumed what happened without me having to tell them."

"Jen!" John gasped, appalled with me.

"What? I'm making things fair!"

"Uh, thank you, Jennifer." Vernon went back to Dan and carelessly waved his hand back to acknowledge me.

John nudged my side and mouthed to me, "What the hell are you doing?"

"So what happened when you got back to the library, Daniel?" Vernon asked loudly, taking back all of our attention.

"I got back, put down all of the sodas, and sat. I heard Andrew call me a shit head, but I didn't really do anything about it because I know I deserved it. A few minutes later, Bender came out of the Foreign Languages room and started yelling at me. He punched me, I punched him, he punched me again, Andrew pushed him away from me, and then you came."

Vernon thought it all over. I wasn't quite sure what I was hoping he would say, but I was happy to see that man actually think for a change. Finally, he was finished and took out his handy dandy index finger. He pointed at Daniel first. "You have another three Saturdays for near sexual harassment and violence." Next was Bender. "And you have an extra two for violence."

"What?!" John exclaimed. "You're already making me stay here for six more weeks!"

"Well now it's back to eight. Lucky you." He malevolently grinned. I wanted to reach in my pocket and, by some bizarre chance, find a gun to shoot at that man.

John huffed and laid back in his seat. I was glad that he didn't say anything else and win himself another six or seven years worth of detentions.

"Vernon!" Daniel shouted. "What does detention do for anyone? You're just telling us to take our fights somewhere else. It doesn't work that way!"

The room was dead silent.

"That was very touching, Daniel. Now get your stuff, you're out of here." Vernon stood smugly and waited for Daniel to give in and be escorted out.

Daniel looked about ready to reach into his magical pocket and pull out a gun that was never there before, too. But as told, he got his coat and scarf and was followed out the door by Vernon.

As soon as the door closed, John turned to me. "You took his side? You do understand that he was just trying to do that to get you back."

"It wouldn't matter, Bender." Andrew butted in. "Because Jennie probably would have liked it _that much,_" he held his fingers together like I did before. But for the record, I did it much better.


	5. Sardines

"Jen?" Bender asked as he put his head in my lap. "What time is it?"

I looked back over my shoulder at the clock. "Almost one,"

He stretched his legs down the rest of the length of the table. "How much hell can we raise between now and three?"

Andrew cut in. "I think we've had enough hell-raising for today, Bender. Have you forgotten about that eye of yours?"

I looked down at him, almost not noticing it. "Oh yeah," we said at the same time.

Andrew sat on the table facing the one Bender and I were on. He motioned for Allison for sit next to him and asked a bit worriedly, "You guys honestly have it that bad? I mean you guys just forget about a black eye?"

"We didn't _forget_," John answered while grazing over his swollen eye. "We just set it to the side."

"We've dealt with worse," I clarified.

Allison leaned forward a little. "But still. For your parents to hurt you is never an okay thing."

John turned his head and looked up at her. "It's not like you have it much better."

What he said sparked my attention. "What did your parents do to you?"

"My parents don't pay attention to me." She answered more comfortably than I expected. And even then, Andy reached over and held her hand.

"It must have been awful as a child,"

"They never hit me," she answered modestly.

"At least my parents knew I was there!"

"They always knew I was there, Jen. They never really acknowledged it, that's all. They didn't do what Andy's parents did."

Andrew's face flushed. I didn't know what else to do but look at him. He saw me and shrugged. "It wasn't as bad when I was a kid," he assured.

"So then what did he do?" John asked.

"Well, when I was really little, like five or six, it was more normal. You know, play wrestling and he'd always pretend that he was really weak so I won every time. Then it got more challenging. He'd beat me then tell me about a hundred things that I did wrong and how I could have won. When I was in Junior High, I joined the wrestling team. I was the best one there, but even when I won, my dad would always say, 'Couldda done better'. All that I ever really wanted was for him to put his hand on my shoulder and say I'm proud of you, son'. And I'm eighteen now! You know, I don't think I'll ever hear him say that."

There was a brief moment of silence. You think you know a guy...

Bender pulled down his right sleeve. "Well, while you're upset about what never happened, I have _this_," he said, referring to his cigar burn given to him by his father a few years ago.

"Oh yeah," I took his wrist and stretched his arm up closer to me. "I remember the day you got this."

"Yeah, he spilled paint, right?"

"Well yeah, but I'm thinking of after."

"What happened after?"

"After I heard that big scream he let out after his old man burned him, I grabbed my first aid kit from under my bed and hopped the fence and waited on his bed until he came back. I had no idea how to treat a burn so we just ran it under cold water and wrapped it up. After that was over, he didn't want to be at home, so instead of him running away, he came over to my place. I think it was the first time we spent the night?" I looked down at John for help and he sat up.

"Course it was," he said while stretching. "What, you don't remember?"

"There isn't much to remember, Bender. I mean, there was a debate about if you were going to sleep on the floor or in my bed-"

"I was on the floor," John side-noted.

"But then we just crashed," I finished.

"Don't tell me you don't remember how freaked out you were about changing into your pajamas!"

I shrugged. "You mean that I made you hide beneath my blanket so you wouldn't see me?"

John laughed. "No, that was the first time I saw you naked!"

My jaw fell to the floor. "You looked? You asshole!" I repeatedly slapped his arm. In retrospect, it would have been a better idea to have changed in the bathroom.

John continued to laugh and block my slaps. "I was fourteen, _of_ _course_ I looked!"

We all wound up laughing, but once the moment was over, we all struggled to find anything to say.

"Can I ask you guys something?" Allison asked to John and me.

"What?" John said, laying back down in my lap.

"Don't get mad at me for bringing this up or anything, but what's going to happen to you guys when you graduate?"

As if the answer was some kind of a reflex, John said, "We're going to get an apartment together."

My stomach flipped. "Pardon?"

John looked up at me. "What, I never told you?"

I shook my head. "I think I would have remembered you deciding that."

"Huh," he said, surprised with himself. "That's what we're doing, okay? At least for a while."

I nodded. "Sure, that works for me."

"What are you guys doing?" John asked the others.

"I'm going off to college, but Allison and I are gonna stay in touch."

"Do you have a job?" I asked Allison.

"I've had an internship at this art studio for a while, and I'm pretty sure they'd offer me a job or at least recommend me to some other place for one."

"You have to get out of the house as soon as you graduate?" Bender asked.

Allison shrugged. "My parents already don't want to have anything to do with me and I bet they'd love to not worry about me being around anymore."

"I don't know if I have to leave right away, either," I said.

"I have to leave the house the second I get my diploma," John said fluidly, as if he didn't care that he won't have any other place to go if things didn't work out.

Andrew smiled at John and me. "I think it's real nice that you two are going to stay together."

I didn't really understand why he said it the way he said it, because it was like we were a married couple and decided not to divorce or something. I disregarded it and said back, "I do too,"

John looked up at me. "It'll be interesting."

A strange feeling hit me. Stunningly quick, I looked up at the couple across from me and said the first thing that came to mind. "Lets play a game!"

Andrew scrunched his eyebrows. "A _what_?"

"A game! Come on, I'm bored!"

Bender shot up out of my lap, strangely energized as I was. "Yeah, we still have two hours to kill!"

Andrew and Allison exchanged glances. "What were you thinking?" Andrew asked.

"Hide and seek!" I blurbed.

"That's a kid game," Allison judged.

"Your point being...?"

"No, she's right," Bender said. "We'll have to play sardines."

"In the hallways!"

John's eyes widened and flickered with mischief. "Perfect,"

Andrew waved his hands around, our minds too quick for him. "Wait, what's sardines?"

"Essentially, it's hide and seek backwards. There's one person that hides and the rest seek. But the people can't look together and when they find the person who originally hid, they hide along with them. The last seeker to find all of the people hiding together in the same place loses. Capisce?"

Andrew and Allison had the same dazed look. He slowly nodded and went along with us. "But what if we get caught?"

"That's the fun," John giggled.

"Alright, I guess we're game."

I raised my hand high. "I call hiding first!"

Allison leaned forward. "But when we went to the bathroom, you were terrified. Can you handle being in the halls all alone?"

"She won't be alone," John snapped before I had a chance to open my mouth. We all stared at him, unsure about what he meant exactly. He shrugged. "I always know where she hides."

The strange feeling from before came back. "Yeah, we've played hide and seek a few too many times."

"We're very serious about this game."

"We have a club and everything."

"She's the co-founder."

"We have matching jackets."

"But they're invisible."

"You guys count to thirty."

"Alrighty,"

Embarrassed and ready to hide, I jogged to the door and looked both ways. I had an idea and kicked off my shoes. Bender saw me and slid off his as well. Andrew and Allison sighed and figured they may as well go in socks, too. As I reached for the door again, John added, "No hiding in rooms, just the halls. Got it?"

I saluted him and opened the door again. As I took my first step out into the danger zone, I heard the monotonous counting. "One, two, three, four..."

I had no idea where I was going, and to be honest, I hadn't thought the whole idea of playing a game in the hallways through. It was just that moment with Bender that startled me. I was looking forward to detention with him to find out what he meant to me and I thought I found it, then when I wanted to get away from it.

I then realized that they were probably close to thirty and that I was still smack dead in the middle of a hall. Still a serious hide and seeker, I took a running start to a row of parallel, yellow lockers. I slid to the first row and hid in the back corner against the wall, across from the lockers. I hugged my knees against my chest and listened to my rushing heart. I couldn't even begin to plan what I would say to John when he would surely find me first.

And guess what.

He did.

John slid on his socks as I did to the lockers and either intentionally or coincidentally stopped at the first row. He smirked and slid over to my corner.

"That was fast," I whispered when he sat next to me.

"Well sure," he agreed. "What did you expect?"

I stared stupidly at the locker across from me, not believing what was going on. For the first time, I wished that I had been sitting next to anybody else other than John Bender.

_Squeak_, _squeak._

My anxiety vanished, my eyes meeting John's. Everybody had taken off their shoes back in the library and there was only one person in that school who had shoes that quacked as much as those.

Vernon.

The steps grew closer and closer until they were breathing down our necks. Suddenly I felt one of Bender's arms coil around me and cover my mouth and the other hand take the top of my head and tilt it down into his body. We were still. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the steps to subside.

Soon, they were gone. John released his hold on me and let me stretch my neck back to where it was supposed to me. I glanced over at him, unsure of what to do next. I hugged my knees and rested my head over in the corner. A moment or two later, John rested his head on my shoulder. I took in a slightly quivering breath. "That was scary," John lifted his head. "Vernon, I mean."

"You were scared?"

"Weren't you?"

"Not for me,"

Our eyes magnetized. What came over us, I don't know, but it was frighteningly similar to the look we had once before the last summer.

"I wonder where Andrew and Allison are," I said, trying desparately to change the subject.

John cupped my cheeks in his hands. "Who?"

John leaned into me, and I just sat there and let him like a fool. I couldn't help wanting him, but I knew it would be no different from last summer. It was awkward, then it just went back to normal. Like Dan said, I was going in circles. Could I spare looping around again?

Good news, I didn't have to.

"There you guys are!" Andrew said with Allison by his side.

John jerked his head up. "Well, I don't see anything in your eye, Jen," he let go of my cheeks.

I played along and rubbed one of my eyes. "Must be an eyelash or something,"

"Is something going on?" Allison asked awkwardly.

"I'll tell you what's going on, you're cheating," John almost shouted.

They both looked at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah!" I agreed, just as embarrassed. "You guys aren't allowed to look together!"

Andrew put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, I guess. Should we play again?"

"No!" John and I yelped.

"I mean, we just heard Vernon walking a while ago. We should probably go back to the library," I explained.

That could have gone better.


	6. Like Old Times

"Hey, Jennie?" Andrew asked me as we all started to put our shoes back on.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, why not?"

Andy took me back behind the tables and the bizarre statue to the little seating area.

"So, what happened with us?" He leaned back on the couch. "We used to be like _that_," he crossed his fingers together, "and then we weren't all of a sudden."

I remembered hanging out with him quite a lot not too long ago. But then again, that's when I was Dan's girlfriend. That was a different Jen. "Just another thing to blame Dan for, I guess."

"Not exactly. He was the one that told all the sports to look out for you. And if he never did, then we probably wouldn't have been friends. And I really liked being your friend," he admitted.

"Yeah, so did I," I leaned back next to him.

He rested his head back and looked over at me. "Jennie?"

I mirrored him. "Huh?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"About?"

"Your parents? Your childhood? _Bender_?"

"You never told me about your parents. They never seemed like something that we would need to tell each other about."

"No," he sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. "I don't know what you consider a healthy friendship, but it shouldn't involve keeping secrets like that. I thought we were close, Jen. I didn't know a thing about you!"

I gently put my hand on his shoulder. "Andy, we were close," Andrew looked over at me. "I never told you because whenever I was with you, I got to forget. And whenever I was with John or Dan, they'd always make me remember when I was a kid, what happened last night, or why I kept having the same nightmare. When I was with you, it was all different. I know I'm not that social and I'll probably regret it when I'm looking back at my high school years, but at least I'd get to remember that I had one normal friend. Do you know that I've never had a friend that I could stay up on the phone with all hours of the night? The only other outside-of-school friend I have is John, and I never needed to call him because he was always right over the fence or already at my house. And if he ever did call me, then the first thing that would cross my mind would be, 'Oh God I have to find money to bail him out'. But I felt free to talk about everything else with you. You really don't get how great that was for me. I just knew that if I told you, I'd have another guy like John or Dan. I only had one normal friend."

He gave me the sweet smile I remembered and pulled me close to him. I leaned my head on his shoulder and for just one second, pretended that nothing had ever changed between us.

~!~!~!~

"Five...four...three...two," we counted, eagerly watching the clock to set us free.

When it was finally time, we simultaneously got up from our chairs and looked awkwardly at one another. Allison waved to John and me, and not settling with that, I hugged them both.

"I'll call you sometime," Andrew promised. I smiled back and followed John out the door.

We walked out the doors together and started to climb down the steps when I looked further into the parking lot and saw Dan walking to his car. I looked up at John. "Will you wait for me? I want to say bye to Dan."

John sighed and turned around, annoyed. "We forgot your cup anyways. Just stay an arms distance away from him, okay?"

I ran down and over to Dan before he stepped into his car. "Wait!"

He stood straight up, his face a mix of disbelief and delight. "Jennie?"

"I just wanted to say bye," I explained, suddenly regretting talking to him.

Dan stepped closer to me. "Look Jennie, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I don't know what I was-"

"I know, I know," I said before he could go on any longer. "And while I don't think that I'll ever fully forgive you, I guess it's water under the bridge."

Dan flashed me a smile, which I surprisingly was glad to see. "Can I drive you home?"

"Oh," I looked back over my shoulder at the school where Bender still hadn't come out yet. "I was going to walk home with John."

"Wait, are you guys going together?"

"John and me? No, we're just...neighbors," I answered with hesitation.

"But you guys are always together?"

"We're friends," I changed my mind.

"And he sleeps on your couch every night?"

"We're _best_ friends,"

"And he guards you with his life?"

"Well... He's my..." I couldn't decide what to change my mind to next.

"Father-figure?"

I couldn't imagine that. A father resting his head in your lap? That's fucking disgusting. Sorry for any mental pictures, kind readers. Can't un-see that. "No, he's just my... He's my Bender, that's all," I guessed, not even sure of what I was saying at the moment.

Dan looked amused and pointed back past me. "Well it looks like your Bender is coming back out for you."

I looked back at John exiting the school again, his wool coat billowing behind him. "I guess so." As Dan opened his door and climbed in, I asked, "See you around school?"

He smiled again. "Only if I can call you sometime to talk like we used to."

"Okay," I agreed. Dan shut his door and started his car while I ran back across the parking lot to Bender.

I met with the disapproving John at the bottom of the stairs when the car was already out of the lot. "So what did that dick weed want?" He shoved the empty cup in my arms and briskly walked past me.

I turned around and watched him acting like a child. "Bender, I was the one that wanted to talk to him. It was perfectly normal!" Seeing that he wasn't going to come back, I caught up with him. "Isn't it a good thing?"

"He just wants to fuck around with you!"

"Bender!" I raised my voice over his and stomped my foot on the wet grass. "We were saying goodbye! That's it! Why is that so hard to deal with?"

"Just goodbye?" He turned back to me, the crisp wind blowing the hair out of his face, giving me a perfect view of the angry veins in his neck bulging out ready to burst and his crinkled forehead. "Really? He didn't ask to drive you home or call you later?" I hesitated for a moment, recalling him asking me both of those things. Before I could do as much as open my mouth, Bender went on. "See? All he wants to do before he graduates is to get in your-"

"STOP!" I screamed, assertively throwing the cup down. "You can't tell me what to do for the rest of my life! I want to be happy again, and if that means getting past what Dan did, then you should be on my side! Why is it so fucking hard for you to let me solve my own damn problems?"

Bender didn't look a bit more sympathetic. "All I was doing was-"

"I'm just trying to make the best of what I have and you keep butting in and saying you know what's best! I know you're trying to look out for me, but you've been on my back for months and I'm sick of it!" I cried, resembling a toddler throwing a tantrum. I already knew that I had the red face like a tomato and watery eyes like lakes without having to look in a mirror. Bender suddenly looked miles more calm and pulled me in tight against him. Though I was the one ranting about his behavior, I clung to him like a wet shirt. I was trembling all over, and I wasn't sure why.

Bender took deep breaths with me and once my breathing was steady and consistent, he smoothed down my hair thoughtfully and whispered to me, "I didn't think you'd be so upset. Just know that I'm still going to care just as much even if I can't say anything. I'll always be right here."

"Thank you, John." I said in an unintentional squeaky voice that I'm sure was the least attractive thing ever uttered.


	7. My Bender

Our walk home was relatively silent, with John's arm around me the whole time and the occasional sniff and awkward 'Sorry' I said for how melodramatically I acted before. When we arrived at our houses, Bender handed me my cup which he had been carrying the whole time.

"Will you be over later?"

Bender smiled and reached in his pocket for his house key. "Aren't I always?"

"Sorry, dumb question." I dug into my pocket for a key with one hand and held my cup in the other as I walked up to my front door. I let myself in and hung up my jacket. I then washed out the cup and started to do my homework in my room.

An hour later at about 5:30, I had been daydreaming for about forty-five minutes and decided that the rest of my work could be done the next day. I stood up on my bed and looked over my fence, seeing that Bender's light was on. I contemplated hopping over and seeing what he was up to, but at the risk of looking clingy and knowing that he was going to be over soon anyway, I decided against it. Instead, I put on a good old Ray Charles record and went to the kitchen to make something to eat. It soon was 7:00 and Bender still didn't find it in him to come over. I was strangely anxious and was planning to have a talk with him to ask him some things I had been wondering about all that day. To make time pass faster, I grabbed a couple fresh towels and went to the bathroom to take a much-needed hot shower. While I was in there, I caught myself daydreaming about John again. Thinking about that day and what he said throughout only made me wonder further about what I was to him, but I had to stop myself and try to remember if I washed my hair yet before my brain would explode.

After God knows how long I was in there, I opened the door and walked up the hallway. Then heard a voice coming from the kitchen. "Jen, do you think your mom would get mad if I had one of her beers?"

I turned right around and ran back out to him. I saw John bending over looking into my refrigerator like my house was his.

"Bender!" I cautiously grasped the collar of my robe to cover any revealing cleavage. "When did you get here?"

"A little before eight."

"What time is it now?"

"About eight thirty."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Here, I'll just put something on and-"

He caught me by the wrist. "You know, you really don't have to."

My face cringed. "But I'm-"

"Look, if we're gonna live together, we're bound to see more of each other, you know?"

"You were really serious about living together?" I walked past him to the sofa, forgetting about my robe-ness.

"Yeah. I mean, unless you don't want to. I just thought that it would be smart." He sat down next to me.

I closed my collar again and pulled my robe over my knees. "Sure, I want to."

"Then why don't we start getting more comfortable now? I mean we're gonna share the same bathroom, the same bed, the same-"

"The same _bed_?"

"Well yeah, you don't think we should buy two small beds instead of one big one, do you?"

"Don't we still have the beds we have now?"

"Jen, my parents are gonna sell everything I can't fit into a suitcase. Plus, how big do you expect our apartment to be?"

I raised my eyebrows. "You really thought this through, didn't you?"

"Got to keep my mind on something."

"Alright, but until then, I'll put something on." I stood up and headed back to my room.

"Suit yourself," he sang.

~!~!~!~

After about a half hour of sitting on the sofa mindlessly watching TV, the phone rang. I took my feet off of the coffee table and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Jennifer?" I was sure of who's voice it was, but I didn't believe it could be real.

"Um yes, may I ask who's calling?"

"It's Claire Standish from History."

Curse my woman's intuition.

I was unsure of how I was supposed to act, but because John was right there and because he most likely had some feelings left for her, I kept myself calm. "Oh, hi. What's up?"

"I actually wanted to ask you something."

I leaned on the wall and watched the then muted TV, acting uninterested. "Sure, what is it?"

"Do you know John Bender?"

I stiffened up. I glanced down at him. He looked back up at me curiously and mouthed, "Who is it?"

"Yeah, why?" I answered, then mouthed back to Bender while pointing frantically to the phone, "It's Claire!"

John's eyebrows scrunched together. "_Cherry_?"

I nodded and listened to Claire explain. "See, I asked because last Saturday I got a call from him that I think was a prank but when I called his house the next morning, he really sounded like he had no idea what I was talking about. Then just now I heard that you guys were walking home together after detention and-"

"You heard about that?"

"News travels fast, I guess."

"I didn't know it would qualify as news. I'm sorry, go on."

"And after I heard that you guys were walking home, I checked the yellow pages and saw that you guys were neighbors."

Apparently Ms. Standish was also a stalker. "Yeah? What do you want to make of it?"

"I was just wondering if he called from your house."

"Perhaps. What time did he call?"

"I around one in the morning."

"Last Saturday?"

"Technically it was Sunday morning."

"Do you remember what he said?"

"He was singing."

"Yeah, that was him," I giggled, remembering.

"Oh. Well, thanks, I guess."

"I'm sorry about him. He was just drunk out of his mind and there was really no stopping him. But, I'll make sure that he stays away from my phone when he's like that next time."

"It's okay. Thanks again."

"No problem. See you Monday."

"Bye,"

I hung up the phone and looked back at the eager Bender after my uncomfortably brief conversation.

"What did she want?"

I sat back down and put my feet on the table again. "Guess,"

He raised his eyebrows, irritated. "Jen, tell me right now or so help me God-"

"You were drunk last weekend and called her from my phone."

Bender scratched his head. "I don't remember. I do remember something about a party, though. What did I say?"

"After I let you in through the front door, I helped you over to the couch, and when I tried to leave, you slurred, 'Wait no no no no, don't. I have to...to do something. And and I need you here for um...for moral support. Come here!'. Then you dialed a few different phone numbers and finally got to the one you wanted. Then you said, 'Hey! Um, I know it's late but um, I was driving home with a friend and a song played on the radio that made me think of you."

Bender's eyes widened to the size of softballs. "I didn't actually _sing_, did I?"

I took in a breath and belted out just as he did, "You're a rich girl/And you've gone too far/Cuz you know it don't matter anyway/You can rely on the old man's money/You can rely on the old man honey/It's a bitch girl/But it's gone too-"

John groaned and buried his face in his hands, embarrassed. I still thought it was hysterical and I was always on his back for drinking at parties, so I went ahead and crossed the line. "HIGH AND DRYYYY/OUT OF THE RAIN/It's so easy/To hurt others when you can't feel pain/AND DON'T YOU KNOOOOW-"

Bender slapped his hand over my mouth. "You didn't stop me? Look how easy it is, Jen."

I pushed his arm away. "I couldn't just stop you! You made me sing too!"

"I _did_?"

"Oh yeah, you were Hall and I was Oates."

Bender flopped next to me and put his head in my lap. "Now I see what you're talking about with my drinking."

"Of course," I smoothed down his hair. "I'm always right."

~!~!~!~

After Saturday Night Live ended, I looked down and saw that Bender was still asleep. He nodded off about halfway through SNL, and I instinctively grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the sofa and covered him with it. I felt tired myself, and I wasn't sure if I should have gotten up and possibly woken him, or continue to sit there and fall asleep sitting up with him on me.

I noticed his black eye again, remembering that he was actually in a fight. This may be a startling thing to read, but John really wasn't much of a fighter. Don't get me wrong, he certainly wasn't a lover, but he rarely finds an excuse to push back. See, he grew up in an environment where when he responded to being hit with hitting back, he'd only get beaten up worse. He often talked about wasting people, but he hardly ever followed through. John's the person you'd least expect to be somewhat of a pacifist, but if you look closely, he often doesn't use his balled up fists or his pocket knife. Something in him that day blew all those childhood experiences behind him far back enough to wail on Dan.

I really did love him, and he loved me. Where exactly did we draw the line between friendly love or the real deal?

_RIIIING RIIIING_

John quickly sat up, mumbling "What's on fire?" at the sound of the telephone.

"It's only the phone," I reassured, getting up to answer it. "Hello?"

"Jen? It's Dan. I'm sorry to call so late, but I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"Oh, hi Dan," John got up and stood next to me disapprovingly, suddenly wide awake. "No, I was awake anyway."

"I'm sorry if you still kind of hate me right now, but-"

"Jennie?" Bender obnoxiously moaned into the phone. "Come back to bed, baby."

I pushed him away. "John!"

"Jennie, who's that?"

Flustered, I took the receiver and walked into the kitchen. "It's Bender. Don't mind him, he's just being an ass."

"You guys weren't...you guys weren't _doing it_ when I called, were you?"

"If you call him snoring on my couch while I'm watching TV 'doing it', then absolutely."

John walked into the kitchen yelling, "No baby, don't put your clothes on! He can't see you over the-OOP!" He tripped over the cord, almost disconnecting the phone and falling flat on the tile floor.

I held my hand over my mouth and tried to hold back my laughter. "Look, I'll call you tomorrow when Bender isn't here."

"Alright, but only if you don't think he'll be mad."

"Oh, I'm sure he will be, but I'll call you anyway."

"I don't want you to get in trouble with him. I wouldn't be able to look at myself knowing that I made you lose your Bender."

"You're flattering yourself, Dan." I walked back over to the table where the phone belonged. John followed me like a duckling on a string following its mother. "It would take a lot more than a phone call with you to make me lose him. And besides, you're too pretty to not look at yourself all day anymore."

"You're right about the second part."

I felt John breathing down my neck. "I'll call you later." I abruptly hung up the phone and sat back down on the couch.

"What did he want?" He asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

"Just to talk," I innocently answered.

"I still think you should steer clear of him."

"I know you do," I remembered how he acted around Dan all day and took in a deep breath. Game on. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

"Shoot,"

"How would you explain our relationship? Neighbors, friends, best friends?"

"Wasn't I asked this earlier today?"

"Yeah, but that was with other people around. You're different that way. Unless you really only think we're just neighbors."

"Um," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything, but I don't think we're just neighbors and I don't consider us friends."

That took me off-guard. "What? So what are we? _Acquaintances_?"

John shook his head and chuckled. "No, not at all. See, I don't think of us as friends because that just doesn't feel right. I guess the closest thing that I can say to describe the two of us is best friends, but even that doesn't amount to what you mean to me. I really don't know what I would have done if you weren't my neighbor. I might have done something crazy like run away or killed myself or something. You're not just my best friend because I don't just want you around because I think you're cool, I need you around or I'm gonna do something insane and nobody else would be able to stop me. It's insulting to call you my best friend, you're more than that. You're my Jen. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

We were on the same page, apparently. We were both confused. "Perfectly. We're Jender."

Bender crawled back over to the sofa and put his head on my lap again. "I guess," he put the blanket over him.

"So," I went on, "you don't think that Jender will get too weird after we get an apartment together?"

He looked up at me. "Why would you think that?"

"Like you said, we'll be sharing the same bathroom, same bed, same everything. It'll be different than us hopping back and forth as we please."

He sat up. "I think Jender already got weird. When we were kids, we were friends. When we got older, we were best friends. When we got to high school, we were Jender. It got weird when we did it last summer. But it was only weird because it didn't feel weird. It didn't feel like I was doing my friend, it like I was doing...you know."

"What do you think's going to happen when we move in?"

"I don't know. But what I do know is that we take good care of each other, we've been able to stand each other for ten years, and we know how we are in bed. We'll do perfectly together."

I paused for a moment. "Perfectly together...as roommates? Or..."

He looked intensely into my eyes, like back when we were hiding in the hallways. For a moment, we didn't say anything.

"I love you, Jen."

My heart about stopped. "Wait, wha-"

Before I could realize what was going on, John leaned forward, took my face in his hands and kissed me. And without thinking, I held him and leaned back. It took ten years, but I finally got it. Totally worth the wait.

John pulled away and smiled. "Maybe not just roommates,"

"I didn't think so," I took his collar with both hands and pulled him back to me.

~!~!~!~

The next Monday, we walked all the way to school together and were officially a couple. It took some explaining to some people, but it was all worth it. Claire, on the other hand, needed no explaining to. She wasn't necessarily happy, but she looked like she accepted it. Same thing with Daniel. And I will add that I heard that they went together to the Senior Dance. John and I didn't go, though. We were busy packing and frankly, we're no Fred and Ginger. We stayed at my place for a couple of weeks before finding a place to move in.

One morning in the end of June, John was loading our boxes into his friend's car that he borrowed while I was getting a last look at my house. It wasn't like I was going to miss the place all that much, but I just wanted to take it all in before never coming back again. It was such a weird feeling. I picked up my last box of crap and found myself lingering in the doorway until a slam of the trunk broke me free of my trance. I looked back at a sweaty and anxious Bender calling to me from the car. "Ready, Jen?"

I nodded, "As I'll ever be,"

"Wait!"

I turned to the peculiar voice behind me. Apparently it was my mother, her hair a mess and her eyes pink and puffy as if she was crying. I didn't know what to so I just kind of stood there.

My mother watched me for a moment, seemingly doing what I did for my old house. She took in a deep breath and carefully came closer to me like I was a wild animal. She cupped my cheek in one of her hands and tried to smile, "Good luck, Jennifer. If you ever need me, and I understand if you wouldn't want to, I'm here."

Unexpectedly, a tear trickled out of my eye and it felt like I swallowed a lump of clay. I nodded, unable to speak.

She nodded back, and before she got too much more emotional, she glanced over at John, then turned around back into the house. I went straight into the passenger seat of the car. John crossed paths with me and knocked on the front door. I watched and listened as the door opened again.

"Did you forget something?"

John nodded. "I forgot to introduce myself."

"You live next door, don't you?"

He nodded again "Used to. I've actually been staying here for a few weeks, but we never crossed paths. I've been your daughter's friend for years, and I promise you that I won't let anything happen to her."

My mother buried her face in her hands and started shaking. John held her shoulder. "We'll visit you soon."

She sniffed. "Please do,"

John soon let go and came back to drive us off to our new home.

"Did you really mean that?" I asked.

"Mean what?"

"That we'll visit her?"

"Sure I did."

"Why?"

"It's not like she ever stopped loving you. If she did, would she have come out and said goodbye to you like that?"

I thought for a moment. "You know, no matter how much you pretend to be an asshole to other people, you're just about the best person I know."

John stopped at the red light and quickly leaned over to kiss my cheek, "You're not so bad yourself."


	8. Hey you

Hello, cute people on the internet. If you like this, check out my new story Behind the Fence! It's in Bender's perspective & it's sort of a prequel to Over the Fence. If you read it & tell me what you think, you're the cat's pajamas. I've only got the first chapter up, but it'd mean a lot to me if you took a gander.


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